JP6432144B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus provided with a rechargeable battery.

Printing devices that house rechargeable batteries are used.
As a peripheral device of a computer (PC) such as a printing device, it functions by acquiring data from a PC, and also has a rechargeable battery. 1 is known.
In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is detected whether or not data is received, and the rechargeable battery is charged while data is not received.

US Pat. No. 6,357,011

The conventional peripheral device described above functions as a peripheral device even when data is not received . That is, the charging battery and the circuit as the peripheral device are connected to the power supply path, but the circuit as the peripheral device is connected to the power supply path while the charging battery is charged. For this reason, power consumption continues even in a circuit as a peripheral device. Therefore, it takes a long time to charge with a limited power supply capability.
The present invention shortens the time required for charging.

The present invention includes a connector, a battery that can be charged by being connected to a power supply path of the connector, a printing mechanism that performs printing by being supplied with power from either or both of the power supply path of the connector and the battery , a first switch, can detect the connection of the connector, in a printing device provided with a possible control circuit switches the first switch, wherein the control circuit is connected before Symbol connector to the power adapter When the printing mechanism is off, the battery is charged from the power supply path of the connector and the power supply path from the battery to the printing mechanism is non-conductive by the first switch. there is a structure in which Ru it as.

In the above-described configuration, the printing mechanism in the printing apparatus is supplied with power from either or both of the power supply path of the connector and the battery, and prints by receiving power and data. The battery can be charged, and can be charged by receiving power from a connector having a power supply path . It said first switch to a power supply path to the printing mechanism is interposed from the battery. The control circuit is capable of detecting the connection of the connector, it is possible to switch between the first switch.

If the previous SL connector is determined that the control circuit is connected to the power adapter, the control circuit, when the printing mechanism is off, while charging the battery from a power supply path of said connector, said first 1 Ru from the battery switch is non-conductive the supply path to the printing mechanism.

As a result, the printing mechanism does not consume power because the power supply path is struck, and charging of the rechargeable battery is completed earlier by that amount .
As another aspect of the present invention, a third switch for activating the printing mechanism is provided, and the control circuit turns on the first switch in response to the operation of the third switch to switch the battery to the printing mechanism. The power supply path may be turned on to turn on the printing mechanism.
As another aspect of the present invention, when the control circuit determines that the connector is connected to a power adapter and the printing mechanism is on, the control circuit causes the data line of the connector to be connected with the second switch. The control circuit may be configured not to be connected to a printing mechanism. As another aspect of the present invention, the control circuit determines that the connector is connected to an external PC when the printing mechanism is on. When the power supply capability from the first is, the power supply path, the battery, and the printing mechanism are connected, and when the power supply capability from the connector is smaller than the first case, the power supply It is good also as a structure connected to the said printing mechanism, without connecting with a supply path and the said battery.
As another aspect of the present invention, the control circuit may be configured to be connected to the power supply path, the battery, and the printing mechanism when there is an auxiliary power supply from the outside even in the second case. .
In another aspect of the present invention, the connector is a USB connector, and the control circuit determines that the connector is connected to an external PC when the printing mechanism is off, 1 switch to the supply path from the battery to the printing mechanism and the non-conductive, may be configured to notify a Human interface device class for the PC through the data lines before Symbol connector.

According to the present invention, when the printing mechanism is off , the printing mechanism does not consume power because the power supply path is struck, and the battery connected to the power supply path is charged faster accordingly. Complete.

1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart of the processing procedure of a printing apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, the printing apparatus 10 includes a USB connector 11 as a connector having a power supply path and a data line. The USB connector 11 includes a power supply line (+ −) (P, G) as a power supply path and a data line (D +, D−) for transmitting and receiving data. Note that the power supply capacity of the power supply line is determined according to the connection destination. In this embodiment, the power supply line is wired, but it may be a wireless power supply line in the future. In the present embodiment, the USB connector 11 is used, but the present invention can also be applied to a connector of a communication standard in which other power supply and data transmission / reception are performed in parallel. In the case of a USB connector, power management is possible, for example, negotiation of power supply capability is performed first, and charging time can be shortened effectively.

  The power supply path of the USB connector 11 is connected to the charging control IC 12. The charging control IC 12 manages the power supply path for the printing mechanism 14 as well as controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery (battery) 13. In the present embodiment, the printing mechanism 14 performs reciprocal driving of the print head, feeds printing paper as a printing medium, and discharges printing ink from the print head. Various mechanisms can be employed as the printing mechanism, and it is also possible to use only a so-called line head and perform only paper feeding. In order to eject ink, a piezoelectric element is used. However, a bubble element that instantaneously generates bubbles may be used. In addition to the case where data is supplied by wire, the case corresponds to a case where data is supplied wirelessly, and data may be read from a storage element card or the like.

  The rechargeable battery 13 is connected to the power supply path via the fourth switch 15. The rechargeable battery 13 is charged when the switch 15 is on and conducting, and supplies power to the printing mechanism 14. Can do. For this reason, the printing mechanism 14 is supplied with power from both or one of the power supplied from the USB connector 11 via the charging control IC 12 and the power supplied via the rechargeable battery 13. A push-type third switch 16 and a first switch 17 composed of a semiconductor switch are interposed in the power supply path to the printing mechanism 14.

  The data line of the USB connector 11 is connected to the printing mechanism 14, and a second switch 18 is interposed in the line. The second switch 18 is also connected to a control circuit 19, which is connected to the USB connector 11 via a data line is a computer 20 (hereinafter simply referred to as a PC) 20? It is possible to detect (detectable) whether the AC adapter (power adapter) 30 for supplying power via the USB connector 11 is used. In addition, although called AC adapter 30 here, not only what is connected to the outlet of AC power supply but what is connected to DC battery is also included.

Based on the determination result, the control circuit 19 turns on and off the first switch (first SW) 17, connects and disconnects at the second switch (second SW) 18, and sets the fourth switch (fourth SW) 15. Controls switching between conduction and non-conduction. The third switch 16 triggers activation, and the control circuit 19 keeps the first switch 17 in the ON state.
In addition to the power supply path from the USB connector 11, an external power connector 11a for supplying power supplementarily is provided. An AC adapter (auxiliary power source) 31 can be connected to the external power connector 11a. The connector of the AC adapter 30 has the shape of a USB terminal, whereas the connector of the AC adapter 31 has a cylindrical shape similar to the connector shape of other general AC adapters. The power supplied from the external power supply connector 11a is 5V as in the case of USB power supply, and is input to the charging control IC 12 to supply power to the charging battery 13 and the printing mechanism 14 via the charging control IC 12. The control circuit 19 can detect that the AC adapter 31 is connected to the external power connector 11a.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the control circuit in the printing apparatus.
In step S100, the control circuit 19 determines whether or not the connection destination is a PC. Initially, the second switch 18 does not connect the data line to the printing mechanism 14, and the control circuit 19 is connected to the data line of the USB connector 11 via the second switch 18. For this reason, when any USB terminal is connected to the USB connector 11, the control circuit 19 starts to communicate with the connection destination according to the USB standard. After the communication, the control circuit 19 can determine whether the connection destination is the PC 20. As a simple method, it is possible to determine that the data line (D +, D−) is connected to the PC when (D +) ≠ (D−). The communication includes negotiation, and if the counterpart is the PC 20, the control circuit 19 inquires about the power supply capability (power supply capability) of the connection destination and obtains a response. For example, a reply such as 0.5 A alone or a total of 1.0 A with one hub is obtained.
On the other hand, the control circuit 19 notifies that the printing apparatus 10 is an external device and a printing apparatus (printer device). The power consumption of the printing apparatus 10 is also notified.

  If the connection destination is the PC 20, it is determined whether or not the printing mechanism 14 is turned on in step S 105 after the determination in step S 100. In order to turn on the printing mechanism 14, the push-type third switch 16 is depressed. The push-type third switch is energized only while being pushed down. When the third switch is pushed down, the printing mechanism 14 is activated by receiving power. The control circuit 19 is started according to the initial procedure for starting, but the control circuit 19 is notified that the start state has been reached at this time. Then, the control circuit 19 keeps the first switch 17 that is a semiconductor switch in an ON state. For this reason, even after the operator releases the hand from the push-type third switch 16 and is turned off, power is continuously supplied through the first switch 17. It should be noted that other methods are possible to arbitrarily turn on the printing mechanism 14. As an example, the third switch can be a toggle type instead of a push type.

  The control circuit 19 detects whether or not the printing mechanism 14 is turned on from the startup, and can determine whether or not the printing mechanism 14 is turned on in step S105. If the printing mechanism 14 is on, the control circuit 19 determines whether the power supply capability is large in step S115. The control circuit 19 negotiates with the connection destination of the USB connector 11, and when the connection destination is the PC 20, the power supply capability is notified at that time. Whether the power supply capability is large is based on the power consumption in the printing mechanism 14 and the control circuit 19. However, the power consumption of the control circuit 19 is basically small.

  For example, if the power consumption of the PC 20 is 1.0 A on average when driving the printing mechanism 14, the power supply capacity of the PC 20 is 1.0 A, which is sufficient to drive the printing mechanism 14. There is no ability to charge the battery 13 in parallel. Therefore, in this case, it is determined that the power supply capability is not large. However, if the power consumption of the PC 20 is 1.5 A when the power consumption when driving the printing mechanism 14 is 1.0 A on average, charging is sufficient to drive the printing mechanism 14. It can be said that the battery 13 has the ability to charge in parallel. Therefore, in this case, it is determined that the power supply capability is large. The power consumption when driving the printing mechanism 14 is 1.0 A on average. However, when the printing mechanism 14 is not currently driven and the power consumption is 0.5 A on average, the power supply capability of the PC 20 is high. If it is 1.0 A, it is insufficient to drive the printing mechanism 14, but the printing mechanism 14 can be driven in a situation where the rechargeable battery 13 can be used in parallel. In the following, for the sake of concise display, they are represented as first SW17, second SW18, and fourth SW16.

When the control circuit 19 determines that the power supply capability is large (first case), in step S130, the first SW 17 is turned on, the second SW 18 is turned on, and the fourth SW 16 is turned on.
The first SW 17 is turned on when the printing mechanism 14 is activated, and there is no change from the current state at that time. Next, the second SW 18 is turned on. The second SW means that the data line of the USB connector 11 is connected to the printing mechanism 14, whereby the printing mechanism 14 can receive the supply of power and the supply of data, and can execute the printing process. Since the control circuit 19 negotiates with the PC 20 according to whether or not the printing mechanism 14 is activated, the PC 20 does not newly negotiate with the printing mechanism 14.

Further, the control circuit 19 turns on the fourth SW 16. The fourth SW 16 means that the rechargeable battery 13 is connected to the power supply path from the charge control IC 12 to the printing mechanism 14. That is, in this state, the rechargeable battery 13 is charged via the charge control IC 12 and supplies power to the printing mechanism 14 as necessary.
That is, when the power supply capacity is large, when the connection destination is a PC and the printing mechanism 14 is on, the charging mechanism 13 is supplied with power and the rechargeable battery 13 is also supplied with power. Will be performed in parallel.

  Next, when the control circuit 19 determines in step S115 that the power supply capability of the connected PC 20 is not large, it is determined in step S120 whether there is external power supply. Even if the power supply capability of the PC 20 is not large, the AC adapter 31 may be connected to the external power connector 11a. As processing in this case, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the power supply capability is large. That is, while supplying power to the printing mechanism 14, power is also supplied to the rechargeable battery 13 to perform charging in parallel. Since power is supplied from other than the PC 20, it is determined that the rechargeable battery 13 has the ability to charge.

  However, if it is determined in step S120 that there is no external power supply (second case), it is determined that the rechargeable battery 13 has no remaining power, and in step S135, the first SW 17 is turned on and the second SW 18 is turned on. On, the fourth SW 16 is turned off. The difference from the previous situation is that the fourth SW 16 is turned off. As a result, the rechargeable battery 13 is disconnected from the power supply path from the charging control IC 12 to the printing mechanism 14, and in parallel with printing by the printing mechanism 14. Will not be charged. Thereby, when it connects with PC20 whose power supply capability is not large, the charge which exceeds power supply capability will not be performed. Consumption of power exceeding the power supply capability is originally managed on the PC 20 side, and when power consumption exceeding the power supply capability is detected, it cannot be used as a peripheral device. Avoiding such a situation leads to an improvement in user convenience.

  As described above, in this embodiment, whether or not to charge the rechargeable battery 13 is switched according to the power supply capability of the PC 20, but the switching is not necessarily required. When connected to the PC 20, the rechargeable battery 13 may be charged.

  Next, when it is determined in step S105 that the printing mechanism 14 is not on, the control circuit 19 causes the PC 20 to recognize it as a human interface device (HID) in step S125. Specifically, in the initial process performed when the USB is connected, the PC 20 is notified that it is a human interface device (HID) class. When the connection destination is the PC 20 but the printing mechanism 14 is in an off state, the connection is made mainly for charging the rechargeable battery 13. For this reason, although it is necessary to receive power supply, if the PC 20 recognizes that the printer is a printing device, the user may mistakenly recognize that printing is possible. For this reason, when the printing mechanism 14 is off, it is recognized not as a printer device but as a human interface device (HID). Of course, it may be recognized as a device other than a human interface device (HID) such as mass storage, but it is preferable to recognize that it is not a device that performs some processing in response to an instruction from the PC 20.

  Thereafter, in step S140, the control circuit 19 turns off the first SW 17, turns off the second SW 18, and turns on the fourth SW 16. Since the first SW 17 is currently off, the current state is maintained, the second SW is turned off because the printing mechanism 14 is not operating, and the fourth SW 16 is turned on so that the rechargeable battery 13 is charged.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S100 that the connection destination is not the PC 20, the control circuit 19 first determines in step S110 whether the printing mechanism 14 is on. The determination that the connection destination to which the USB connector 11 is connected is not the PC 20 is based on the result of communication based on the USB standard. Further, as a simple method, for the data line (D +, D−), when (D +) = (D−), it can be determined that the AC adapter 30 is connected instead of the PC 20. . Since the negotiation cannot be performed with the AC adapter 30 other than the PC 20, it is possible to confirm whether (D +) = (D−) for confirmation when the negotiation is not possible.

  Thereafter, as in step S105, when the control circuit 19 determines in step S110 that the printing mechanism 14 is on, in step S145, the first SW 17 is turned on, the second SW 18 is turned off, and the fourth SW 16 is turned on. And The AC adapter 30 is connected and the printing mechanism 14 is turned on when it is not connected to the PC 20 by wire, but printing is performed. For example, data received wirelessly or data read from a storage element card or the like is used. This is the case when trying to print based on this. Since the current state of the first SW 17 is on, the current state is maintained, and no data is supplied from the USB connector 11, so the second SW 18 is turned off. Since the AC adapter 30 is normally selected in consideration of the power supply capability, the fact that the AC adapter 30 is connected means that the power supply capability is large, and the fourth SW 16 is turned on. Thereby, power is supplied from the AC adapter 30 to the rechargeable battery 13 via the USB connector 11 and the charge control IC 12 and charged.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S110 that the printing mechanism 14 is off, the first SW 17 is turned off, the second SW 18 is turned off, and the fourth SW 16 is turned on in step S150. It is considered that the purpose of charging the rechargeable battery 13 is to connect the AC adapter 30 and turn off the printing mechanism 14. Since the current state of the first SW 17 is off, the current state is maintained, and no data is supplied from the USB connector 11, so that the second SW 18 is turned off and the AC adapter 30 is connected for charging. And the fourth SW 16 is turned on. Thereby, power is supplied from the AC adapter 30 to the rechargeable battery 13 via the USB connector 11 and the charge control IC 12 and charged.

  As a result, when it is not necessary to print, when the AC adapter 30 is connected to the USB connector 11, the rechargeable battery 13 can be charged with the printing mechanism 14 turned off, and charging can be completed early. Since the printing mechanism 14 inherently consumes a large amount of power to drive the mechanism, such as reciprocating the print head, it is difficult to build up the control unit with only power-saving parts in the printing mechanism 14. For this reason, it has become possible to perform early charging by generating a state in which the printing mechanism 14 is not driven.

  In the embodiment described above, the charging of the rechargeable battery in the printing apparatus 10 has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to a printing apparatus having a function other than the printing function and an external device having no printing function. In particular, when the mechanism that demonstrates the function of such an external device is difficult to configure with power-saving parts due to its nature, turning off the original function part concentrates the supplied power on the rechargeable battery. By doing so, the charging time can be dramatically shortened. In the case of the printing apparatus of this embodiment, the charging time is approximately halved as compared with the case where the printing mechanism 14 cannot be turned off alone.

Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. It goes without saying for those skilled in the art,
-Applying the combination of the mutually replaceable members and configurations disclosed in the above-described embodiments as appropriate-The above-described embodiments are not disclosed in the above-described embodiments, but are publicly known techniques. The members and structures that can be mutually replaced with the members and structures disclosed in the above are appropriately replaced, and the combination is changed and applied. It is an embodiment of the present invention that a person skilled in the art appropriately replaces the members and configurations that can be assumed as substitutes for the members and configurations disclosed in the above-described embodiments, and changes the combination to apply. It is disclosed as.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printing apparatus, 11 ... USB connector, 11a ... External power supply connector, 12 ... Charge control IC, 13 ... Rechargeable battery, 14 ... Printing mechanism, 15 ... 4th switch (4th SW), 16 ... 3rd switch, 17 ... 1st switch (1st SW), 18 ... 2nd switch (2nd SW), 19 ... Control circuit, 20 ... PC, 30 ... AC adapter (power adapter), 31 ... AC adapter (auxiliary power supply).

Claims (5)

A connector;
A battery that can be charged by connecting to the power supply path of the connector;
A printing mechanism that performs printing with power supplied from both or one of the power supply path of the connector and the battery; and
A first switch;
A printing apparatus comprising a control circuit capable of detecting a connection destination of a connector and capable of switching the first switch;
The control circuit includes:
When it is determined that the connector is connected to a power adapter, when the printing mechanism is off, the battery is charged from the power supply path of the connector, and the printing mechanism is switched from the battery by the first switch. A printing apparatus , wherein a power supply path to the printer is made non-conductive and a data line of the connector is not connected to the printing mechanism . A connector;
A battery that can be charged by connecting to the power supply path of the connector;
A printing mechanism that performs printing with power supplied from both or one of the power supply path of the connector and the battery; and
A first switch;
A printing apparatus comprising a control circuit capable of detecting a connection destination of a connector and capable of switching the first switch;
The control circuit includes:
When it is determined that the connector is connected to a power adapter, when the printing mechanism is off, the battery is charged from the power supply path of the connector, and the printing mechanism is switched from the battery by the first switch. The power supply path to
When the printing mechanism is on,
When it is determined that the connector is connected to an external PC,
When the power supply capability from the connector is first, the power supply path is connected to the battery and the printing mechanism,
Printing device characterized in that to connect to the printing mechanism without connecting the power supply path to the battery and if smaller second than the power supply capacity of the first from the connector. The control circuit includes:
3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein even in the second case, when there is an auxiliary power supply from the outside, the printing apparatus is connected to the power supply path, the battery, and the printing mechanism. A connector;
A battery that can be charged by connecting to the power supply path of the connector;
A printing mechanism that performs printing with power supplied from both or one of the power supply path of the connector and the battery; and
A first switch;
A printing apparatus comprising a control circuit capable of detecting a connection destination of a connector and capable of switching the first switch;
The connector is a USB connector;
The control circuit includes:
When it is determined that the connector is connected to a power adapter, when the printing mechanism is off, the battery is charged from the power supply path of the connector, and the printing mechanism is switched from the battery by the first switch. The power supply path to
When the printing mechanism is off,
When it is determined that the connector is connected to an external PC ,
Before SL is a supply path from the battery to the printing mechanism and the non-conductive at the first switch,
Without connecting the data line of the connector to the printing mechanism,
Printing apparatus you and notifies a Human Interface Device class for the PC via a data line of the connector. A connector;
A battery that can be charged by connecting to the power supply path of the connector;
A printing mechanism that performs printing with power supplied from both or one of the power supply path of the connector and the battery; and
A first switch;
A control circuit capable of detecting a connection destination of the connector and switching the first switch;
A printing apparatus comprising:
The control circuit includes:
When it is determined that the connector is connected to an external PC, when the printing mechanism is off, the PC is notified that it is a device different from the printing device, and the power supply of the connector is supplied. A printing apparatus, wherein the battery is charged from a path and the power supply path from the battery to the printing mechanism is made non-conductive by the first switch.

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